Dover Light Infantry

The Light Infantry Company of Dover, part of the 1st Battalion of Kent County, mustered in on 2 April 1776. Its militia volunteers were uniformly armed and equipped and wore standard military coats of green with red lapels, cuffs, and collars. From 14 December 1776 to 14 January 1777, under Captain Thomas Rodney, the youngest brother of Declaration of Independence signer Caesar Rodney, the company answered General George Washington's call for militia during the darkest days of the American Revolution. Volunteers from the company marched from Dover, crossed the Delaware River into New Jersey, and, as part of Brigadier General John Cadwalader's Pennsylvania Brigade, played key military roles in Washington's decisive victories over British and Hessian forces at the Second Battle of Trenton and the Battle of Princeton. For distinguished service, Washington appointed the Light Infantry Company of Dover to be his own guard in the defense and protection of American liberty.

Dover, Delaware · United States